Reunion
by Ruel-chan
Summary: The nine friends meet for dinner ten years after graduation. Even though they used to be good friends, the atmosphere is awkward. However, when Ino finds out a little something about her friends, she decides to play matchmaker. KibaSaku. AU.


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

NB! Main pairing is KibaSaku, but other pairings are implied.

* * *

**Reunion**

* * *

The busy streets of Konoha were packed with all kinds of people. There was the determined and serious businessman. He walked without taking notice of any of the people around him, not even the crazy women who were more than ready to be a wife—preferably his wife. Also, there was the woman who worked at the flower shop. Every day was a hard day for her, since taking over her parents' shop was the only choice she had. A bit further down the street from the flower shop, there was another shop.

This was the popular ramen shop, and the guy making the ramen spent about just as much time eating it as selling it. On a street further away ran a clumsy woman who was worried about how she was going to apologize to her boss for being late without fainting. The woman ran past a man in a lab coat. This man was just finished at work after experimenting all night on rare insects.

The businessman had just arrived at his company. He gave his sleeping assistant a slap over his head and put a pile of papers on his desk.

"These, you fix them," he said. The assistant lifted his pineapple head and yawned. Before entering his office, the businessman turned his head.

"Any new messages?" he asked.

"Naruto called. The date of the reunion is settled," pineapple head answered. The businessman looked at him impatiently and urged him to go on.

"It's this Saturday, six p.m. at Sabaku Restaurant."

"Then I can't go. I have to work."

"He really wants you to come, Sasuke," pineapple head said, "and so do the rest of us." Sasuke didn't care to answer and shut the door of his office.

"Stoic bastard. He's your best friend, man," pineapple head murmured. The phone at his desk started ringing.

"Yes, Sasuke Uchiha's office. You're speaking with Shikamaru Nara. How may I help you?" Shikamaru said. He could hear laughter from the other end.

"Man, that sounded nothing like you. All business-mattered. It's Kiba. Remember me? We used to hang out all the time." Shikamaru's face broke into a smile. Kiba was still Kiba.

"I tried to contact Naruto, but he didn't answer," Kiba said.

"Yeah, we talked earlier. He's in a meeting right now."

"In a meeting? Man, you people are growing up."

"Sorry, you're the only one who still has time to chill while eating doughnuts," Shikamaru said. Kiba laughed.

"Hey, my work as a police man is very important. Just this week I've saved three cats from a tree," he said. Shikamaru snorted in amusement. "Anyway, we're supposed to meet up or something, right?"

"Yes, this Saturday, six p.m. at Sabaku Restaurant. I think Naruto has called everyone besides Sakura. She seems busy," Shikamaru said.

"Well," Kiba said, "I guess I can call her." They both said their goodbyes and hung up.

* * *

Kiba had to no luck tried to call Sakura all day. It was only one day until the reunion, and Kiba feared they might have to meet up without her.

"Come on, Sakura. Pick it up," Kiba mumbled in the phone. No one answered on the other end. A sigh escaped his lips. He pondered on what to do for a while. Suddenly he came up with an idea. After slipping his feet in a pair of shoes and grabbing a jacket, he went outside. After about 30 minutes he stood outside a large brick building with a sign reading 'Konoha Hospital'. Kiba had made a quick call to Shikamaru to ask where Sakura worked, and not shockingly she was a doctor. Sakura had always told their group of friends about her dream to become a doctor.

A hospital was not a place you would like to be if you spent way too much time there as a kid like Kiba had, and because of stupid stuff like food-eating dares. Apparently, food poisoning was no laughing matter. After walking through the main door, he had no idea where to go next. Asking at the information counter wasn't even considered. Kiba preferred figuring things out himself, which was why he almost never found what he was looking for. This time looked to be different, though. Across the room he spotted the familiar pink hair, and he quickly made his way towards her. However, when he arrived there, she was already gone. He had no clue as to where she went.

"There's a lot of people in the hospital," he muttered. The crowd of people made him feel disoriented, and the directions she could have taken seemed to be endless. He couldn't understand why there were so many people. "'Cause the hospital is such a nice place to be," he said in a sarcastic singsong voice.

"You're dissing my workplace, Inuzuka?" a female voice asked. Kiba quickly turned around.

Sakura had changed quite a bit. Before, she had looked so girly. Her hair had always been kept away from her face with a red headband. The clothes she had worn were always something pink, red and with flowers. Now she looked more like…a woman. Apparently she had let her hair grow long. Currently it was put up in a ponytail, and her bangs were put to the side with bobby pins.

"You look ridiculous in that coat," Kiba remarked. Sakura rested on her right foot and put a hand on her hip. Her eyes looked at him questionably.

"Rare to see you here. It happens like…never. What's up?" Sakura asked.

"Since you never seem to be near your phone, I had to come to tell you personally about the reunion." Sakura's face lit up knowingly.

"That's right! The reunion tomorrow, right?" she asked. Kiba gave her a dumb stare.

"You knew?" he shouted. Sakura held a hand over her left ear.

"First of all, ouch. Second of all," she held her breath, "yes." Kiba glared at her. If he hadn't known she was a busy doctor with probably two hours of sleep every night, he wouldn't even care to talk to her anymore. He hated when people spoke in half sentences. Noticing her own grumpy behaviour, Sakura quickly apologized. This made Kiba really confused. The Sakura he knew would never apologize for being snappy or unreasonable.

"Ino told me," Sakura explained.

"How did Ino manage to contact you? I've been calling you for four days!" Kiba said. He almost started wondering if she ignored him on purpose.

"My phone is broken. She told me on Facebook," Sakura answered. Kiba smacked his forehead in frustration.

"When did you get a Facebook account?" he asked.

"Since some time ago," she answered. Again, he gave her a dumb stare.

"And _why_ didn't you add me?"

"I'm barely logged in."

"But you're obviously logged in sometimes!" Kiba was starting to get worked up.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Do you lack sleep too?" Sakura asked. He ran a hand through his hair. Honestly, even though he joked about his job all the time, it was really taking its toll on him. He hadn't gotten a promotion for a long time, and his mother had started bugging him about his bad career choice. She wanted him to work at the pet shop. _Pet shop_. No matter how much he loved animals—especially dogs—he had no interest in a career that didn't enquire him to do much besides putting a smile on his face and asking, "May I be of any help?" He wanted to _work_. To _sweat_. To _think_. To _keep people_ _safe_. Sakura noticed something was wrong and put her palm on Kiba's forehead.

"At least he doesn't have a fever," she murmured. His head raised in a matter of seconds. Doctors sure were weird. Especially this one. They usually didn't make him blush.

"Why are you looking at me so oddly?" Sakura asked. Kiba coughed to make his discomfort go away.

"Nothing. You'll come tomorrow?" he asked. Sakura nodded.

"Then bye!" He saluted her, and quickly walked out of the hospital.

"Bye," Sakura murmured after he had left. She had to shake her head when she turned to walk towards the break room. He was so weird.

* * *

The nine were sitting around a table at Sabaku Restaurant. The atmosphere was suffocating. Instead of chatting like they had never been apart, there was a painful silence. It didn't help that the food they had ordered had yet to arrive, so no one could ignore the silence by eating. If it had been in high school, the chattering wouldn't have stopped. Now everyone wished someone would say _something_. Hinata turned out to be the saving angel.

"S-so," she stammered, "what is e-everyone's occupation at the moment?" The point of asking this was purely to end the silence. Even though no one in the group had much contact with each other, most of them knew what the others worked as. Naruto was the first to answer. He was just glad he could finally breathe normally again.

"I work in a company that helps rebuilding houses of victims of natural catastrophes. It's usually in other countries. I'm not one of the ones who build the houses though. My job is more office-related," he laughed.

"I can't believe you and Sasuke ended up having the same kind of job," Ino said in disbelief.

"Don't compare my work with the dimwit's just because we both work in an office. My company has been in the family for years. Not to mention, I'm not the employee, but the employer," Sasuke said. Naruto glared at him.

"Don't degrade my work!" he yelled, which earned him annoyed looks from other tables. Sakura sighed. That temper. He just couldn't change, could he?

"I think it's weirder that Shikamaru works under Sasuke," Chouji said. "Thought you said he was too bossy," he said and looked at Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't even care to look at the slightly angered eyes of Sasuke Uchiha.

"Thanks for getting me fired," he mumbled. The others laughed, but as soon as the laughter ended, the weird silence roamed the table again. When the food came on the table, the atmosphere got a bit lighter. They continued chatting about jobs. Ino complained about the pressure of taking over the flower shop. Kiba felt the same way, however, he didn't dare to say anything.

"You still don't look too good," Sakura said, worried. She sat beside Kiba, and leaned over to touch his forehead again. This time Kiba grabbed her hand midway.

"Okay, no need to be Dr Haruno when you're outside of work," Kiba said, "I'm fine." The doubt in Sakura's eyes was so evident she wouldn't even be able to pretend she believed him if she wanted to. He gave her a smile to reassure her. Her eyes still showed no signs of her believing him.

"Sakura, you work at the hospital, right?" Hinata asked. Kiba silently thanked Hinata for interrupting Sakura's potential investigation of his current life. He liked to investigate, not to be investigated. Sakura couldn't help but think that Hinata was more talkative than before. She was also as polite as ever, though. It was typical of Hinata to include everyone.

"Yes, that's right. I work at Konoha Hospital," she answered.

"And she gets no sleep, so if she acts childish, please excuse her," Kiba said jokingly. The rest of the group did not take it as a joke, however.

"You seem kind of…close," Ino said, speaking the mind of all the others.

"Yeah, Sakura tried to touch Kiba's face!" Naruto said while pointing an accusing finger at them. They all looked at them like they knew something.

"What?" Kiba asked confused. "No! We're not like that!"

"Yeah, you see, he visited me at work yesterday—" Sakura said, before she was interrupted by Kiba. He looked at her in frustration.

"Way to make it sound like we're—"

"Let me talk!" Sakura said. She looked at the group. "He only visited to tell me about today. And what happened was—"

"I had to visit her because her phone is broken. She was really grumpy, therefore I knew she lacked sleep, 'cause people get grumpy when they lack sleep," Kiba finished for her, which earned him an irritated scowl from her. He sounded like a desperate kid trying to hide the fact that he ate all the cookies from the cookie jar.

"_You_ make it sound like we're making excuses!" Sakura accused.

"This is so blown out of proportions," Kiba sighed, as he rested his head in his palm.

"You're such a drama queen. Really, what's wrong?" Sakura asked worryingly. The group could do nothing but stare.

"Stop snooping in my life, doctor," he said as he pointed at her. She rolled her eyes. When she turned to look at the others, she couldn't help but notice the curious glances. Naruto looked like he was a kid at the zoo. His eyes were soon forced to pop out if he didn't stop staring like that. The line was drawn for Sakura when he started snickering.

With a hard slam of her fist on the table, she said, "Stop imagining stupid stuff. Before yesterday, I hadn't seen Kiba since high school. That goes for most of you others too, and you know what? I've missed you. I've even missed all the stupid ideas we had that made my mother consider sending me away to boarding school." The table went completely silent again. All of them felt the same way. Even though things were a bit awkward between them now, the memories from high school still held a special place in their hearts.

"Me too," Shikamaru said, "even though I always had to find a way for us to get out of troublesome situations."

"I miss the lunch breaks at school. We were either all gathered and chatted, or Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji would pull tricks on the principal," Ino said.

"You bet we did!" Naruto said excitedly. Giggles were suddenly heard from Hinata.

"It was always fun when we went to the ramen shop," she said.

"Ah, the nostalgia is killing me," Kiba said.

"Says the person who wanted nothing more than for high school to end," Shino said. All eyes were on Shino. They were all a little surprised that he actually said something. Shortly enough Sakura opened her mouth to speak.

"It's weird, though. We're already 27 years old, and none of us are married or even have a partner," she said. A little embarrassed, Naruto scratched his neck.

"Actually," he said, "I have a girlfriend." A pair of lilac coloured eyes widened in shock. Sakura and Ino looked at Hinata apologetic. The hurt in her eyes made it clear she stilled loved him like she had in high school. To hinder the atmosphere to become suffocating again, Kiba quickly congratulated him. As if they all feared the same, more congratulations came, and they asked him questions about her.

Apparently it was someone at work, and he had fallen in love with how hardworking she was. Everyone in the group couldn't help thinking of how stupid they thought Naruto was at the moment. A hardworking girl, who had worked hard to get him to notice her, had been by his side throughout the whole of high school. Though, no one noticed the person who was the maddest at him. His black eyes bore into his best friend's skull.

"Your taste has changed then," Sasuke coolly said. Naruto's eyes were filled with confusion. When he asked him what he meant, Sasuke nodded at Sakura.

"You used to like that type," he remarked. Sakura could only gape at the insult. She was hardworking! Her neighbour obviously found the insult amusing, because he wouldn't stop chuckling. At least not before a death glare was sent his way. Naruto looked even more confused now. When did Sasuke start to even bother knowing what his type was? Ino and Sakura looked at each other. Ino then cleared her throat.

"Shikamaru," she called, "if you don't mind?" She rose up from her chair and hinted that he should follow her. After she had led him to a little hall where the bathrooms were, she turned around to look at him. At first none of them said anything, but Shikamaru was pretty sure what was coming.

"Sasuke likes Hinata?" Ino asked. Shikamaru sighed. It was probably no use lying to her. She already knew anyway.

"Yes, he does," he answered.

"Since when?"

"Since high school."

Ino gaped at his answer. "Who else knows?"

"No one knows besides you and me. Well, judging by the look you and Sakura exchanged, probably her too." Ino tapped her chin in thought.

"Ino, please don't do anything stupid. Or something that'll get me fired," Shikamaru said. Ino rolled her eyes and looked at him.

"I won't. I just want to…help our friends," Ino said. That made Shikamaru groan. So she _was_ going to do something stupid.

"That goes for Sakura and Kiba too."

"Now wait a minute," Shikamaru said before he was interrupted.

"Please! Did you see those two? They look _so _cute together," she squealed. "Actually, I think we should set those two up first."

"We?" Shikamaru asked.

"You and me. So, genius boy, what do you suggest we do first?"

"First of all, you can't set people up just because you think they look "cute" together. Second, there's no 'you and me'. Leave the 'you' out of this!" Ino was not impressed by his answer.

"It's not like it's completely out of the blue," she said. Shikamaru looked at her.

"So you did see it," he said, thinking about an episode from high school.

"I saw it, you saw it. They're both single, they're hot, Sakura needs something that can take her mind off work, and Kiba is the right man for that task! Besides, they look _so _cute together!" Shikamaru sighed. She was impossible to reason with.

"Don't you think they're old enough to find a partner for themselves?" he asked, trying one last time to get her to rethink it.

"Shikamaru! Can't you remember in high school?"

"I think we've estimated that we both saw and remember what happened in high school," he stated. Ino giggled.

"They were kissing buddies," she twittered. Shikamaru doubted they would appreciate that nickname. It was kind of true, though.

* * *

It had been in the spring, and there was less than half a year of school left before high school was over. It was just a normal day for Shikamaru. The sky was pretty much empty of clouds, though, and that sucked. However, the day was chill. Well, every day was chill. Homework was troublesome, so Shikamaru refrained from doing it.

The school day had just ended. Usually the gang would come up with something to do on Fridays like this, but today most of them were busy. With what, Shikamaru wasn't sure. He knew that Ino was free, however, it would be kind of weird to only hang out with her. She was a troublesome girl. Her extremely girlishness made it impossible to do something with her that didn't require painting their nails or shopping, at least if you were together with her alone. When the gang was together, they would just relax somewhere. Sometimes the boys played pranks, but honestly, Shikamaru preferred to just watch the clouds. It sucked that the sky was empty today.

He kicked a stone that rolled along the sidewalk. The next move of his, he regretted for a few months later.

Shikamaru looked up, and the scene he saw before his eyes burned into his memory without him even wanting to. His two friends were kissing each other. They were kissing each other on the sidewalk. Sakura had her back leaned against the wall, while Kiba held her face in his palms, kissing her. Before they realised he was there, he turned his heel, and quickly walked back the same way he had come from. While looking at the other side of the road, he noticed his blond-haired friend. Her eyes looked just as surprised as he felt. Did Sakura and Kiba have a secret relationship?

Shikamaru shortly understand that wasn't quite the case. Unfortunately for him, he came across them kissing a few more times, and what he had managed to grasp from their…relationship was that it was merely an experiment. After high school they hadn't stayed in contact as far as Shikamaru knew.

* * *

Ino looked expectantly at him. Her eyes begged him to cooperate, and he knew that if he refused, she would just somehow force him to do it. She was such a troublesome woman. He sighed.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked. Ino squealed and clapped her hands excitedly.

"The perfect line would be that you already had a plan," Ino said. "But your line works," she assured him. Ino tapped her chin.

"Actually _I_ have a plan," she said. "It's important that we find a topic they're both interested in. Like we both know, Kiba loves dogs. Interestingly enough, Sakura has taken a great liking to them as well. Yesterday she told me that one of her colleagues has a dog that she's going to watch when he's away to visit his family," Ino informed.

Shikamaru had to admit that it was a pretty smart idea. It was crucial that they had similar interests and hobbies, or else Ino's KibaSaku would go to pieces.

"Maybe we should mention the kissing in high school," Shikamaru suggested. Ino lit up at the idea. He wasn't such a boring guy after all!

They both knew they had to get back before the others started wondering, so they left the hall and sat down in their seats.

"What was that all about?" Naruto asked. Sakura gave Ino a knowing gaze—which wasn't as knowing as she liked to think. Ino nodded her head to confirm their suspicion about Sasuke.

"Ino was worried about…a guy," Shikamaru answered.

"A guy?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, she's interested in this guy I know," he told him.

"Shikamaru! You weren't supposed to tell anyone!" Ino said, pretending to have been unjustified. Shikamaru lightly chewed on the insides of his cheeks to not smirk. Who would've thought he would find it amusing to trick their friends?

"Sakura!" Ino's eyes sparked with mischief. "What was the name of the dog you're going to watch again?" she asked. Sakura smiled a warm smile by thinking of the dog. It was a Bischon Frisé, and it basically looked like a teddy bear. Its cuteness was overpowering every sense Sakura had when she was near it.

"You're going to watch a dog?" Kiba asked in curiosity. _Bingo_, Ino thought.

"Yes, a Bischon Frisé called Lizzie. My colleague's going to visit his family over the weekend in a couple of weeks, so I'll watch her for him then," Sakura answered. Kiba smiled when he saw the smile on Sakura's face. He loved when someone was as passionate as him about dogs.

"Do you think you'll ever have your own dog?" he asked. _Oh, yes, she will_, Ino thought.

"Maybe," Sakura answered, "but not right now. If I manage to balance it with work, I'll definitely want one in the future."

"Maybe you'll need one now to take away your stress," Ino suggested.

"How will a dog take away my stress?" Sakura asked.

"They're loyal and happy. They brighten up your day, and you can _snuggle_ with them on a bad day," Ino answered. Shikamaru looked at her. Yes, _snuggle_.

"I-I hope you're not too stressed out because of work," Hinata said, worried. Sakura shook her head.

"I'm fine, Hinata," she smiled, "I'm more concerned about this guy here." She pointed at Kiba.

"What? I'm fine," he laughed.

"Sure," she said sarcastically.

"I know I'm pushing the wrong buttons, but you really seem kind of close," Naruto remarked. _Nice one_, Ino thought.

"Maybe because of something in high school?" Ino chirped. Shikamaru slightly smirked. A rosy tint adorned both Sakura's and Kiba's cheeks. She couldn't mean…? No, no one knew. They hadn't mentioned it to anyone.

"Nothing special happened in high school," Kiba mumbled before chugging down his liquor.

"Well, whether kissing is something special or not is an individual thing, I guess," Shikamaru said absentmindedly while twirling his glass with fluid. Kiba's eyes widened and Sakura's food got stuck in her throat.

"You…" Kiba trailed off. Hinata looked at them with concern. Was something wrong? Sasuke had already guessed what Ino and Shikamaru was pressing on about. Apparently the dog and the cherry blossom had hidden something from them in high school.

"What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asked, not grasping anything at all.

"Why don't you tell us, Sakura," Ino smirked, "about kissing Kiba?" Naruto almost spit out his food, which Sasuke didn't mind telling him was disgusting. Hinata's cheeks warmed up.

"Who would've thought," was Shino's simple response.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Chouji asked.

"YOU WERE A COUPLE IN HIGH SCHOOL?" Naruto yelled. Sakura wanted to slap him. People around them gave them annoyed glances.

"No, we just kissed!" Sakura said, not realising how dumb that sounded before afterwards.

"Why did you kiss?" Naruto wondered.

"It has nothing to do with you!" Kiba said.

"I think it was sweet," Ino commented.

"It definitely has something to do with me! Why wouldn't you tell us?" Naruto probed. Sakura and Kiba looked at each other.

* * *

The kissing had begun a day after school. They were the only ones left in the classroom. Kiba and Sakura had never been the closest ones in their group, but they were friends nonetheless. Since they were both in charge of the classroom this week, they were making sure the desks looked neat and stood at their usual place. It wasn't much they had to do—only to make sure it looked decent at the end of the school day. When they were done, they sat down on a desk, just to relax for a minute before they left. Suddenly Kiba asked a peculiar question.

"Have you ever kissed?" he asked. Sakura furrowed her brows and looked at him.

"What?"

Kiba snorted amusedly at her question-marked face. He rose from beside her and placed himself in front of her. His face inched closer to hers. "Have you ever kissed?" he repeated. Sakura slowly shook her head. Her cheeks were tinted with a blush.

"Want to try?" he asked. He didn't want to say it out loud, but he had never kissed either. In his mind, it was time. He couldn't have _not_ kissed throughout the whole of high school; that was too embarrassing.

"Wouldn't that be awkward?" Sakura asked. Kiba shrugged.

"We won't know before we try." His breath warmed her face.

"I think it will be really awkward," Sakura stated.

"Doesn't matter. We were never that close anyway." And with that, Kiba's lips met with hers. Sakura's arms held around his neck, while Kiba's hands entwined with her hair. None of them had ever kissed before, but they liked the strange butterfly feeling in their stomachs.

* * *

"How did you know?" Sakura asked. She was still embarrassed, and the blush on her cheeks wouldn't get away. Was she really 27 years old? She suddenly felt ten years younger—and not in a positive way.

Sakura hadn't had a lot of boyfriends, and dating had only gone in the way of her work. She had become a workaholic, you could say. The memories of the last semester of high school still were very clear to her. It had been shocking when Kiba had suddenly asked her to kiss. However, she was 17 and curious, so she let him kiss her.

It was never meant to happen more than once. He just wanted to try it out. Even though Kiba was a 17-year-old guy, he had yet to kiss. Honestly, he had barely held hands with a girl. To him, that was embarrassing. Especially since some of his other guy friends had done way more than that. Besides, he thought, Sakura was quite cute, and maybe he even had a little crush on her.

A few days after the kiss in the classroom, they kissed again. This time on the sidewalk not far from school. They felt bold kissing in public like that. However, they didn't expect anyone to see them.

"On the sidewalk," Ino chirped.

* * *

It was a Friday the day Ino had spotted them. Ino had to do errands for her mom and therefore couldn't hang out with her friends as she usually did. When she looked over at the other side of the road, the first person she had seen was Shikamaru. She intended to call him over and convince him to help with the errands, but when she saw that he stared at something with wide eyes, she followed his gaze. She let go of the bags she was holding.

Her best friend was kissing dog boy! It was strange to think those two could have a thing for each other. They rarely interacted, and when they did, they usually taunted each other. Ino noticed Shikamaru hurried away from the scene, probably hoping to get as far away as possible before they spotted him. His eyes met with hers, and she noticed how he almost looked frightened, which was an amusing sight. Ino looked back at Sakura and Kiba.

However surprising the sight in front of her was, it didn't take long until she put her hand over her heart and almost melted. They looked so cute together. The next day Ino expected Sakura to tell her about what had happened, but she didn't mention it. Actually she never mentioned having kissed their friend at all. After awhile Ino considered interrogating her about it, but she decided against it. She thought she would probably tell her when the time was ready. Maybe Sakura and Kiba's relationship would even become official. However, neither happened. No relationship got out in the open, and Sakura didn't even mention it one single time in ten years.

* * *

Sakura stared down at the table. It was embarrassing that everyone was staring at them, and the fact that Kiba sat right next to her made it even worse.

"Were you ever going to tell us?" Naruto asked.

"No," they answered in unison.

"Why?" Chouji asked.

"Because it doesn't matter," Sakura answered. "It happened a long time ago."

"Still, you could have told us!" Ino complained.

"What do you care? You already knew anyway!" Sakura responded. Ino and Shikamaru glanced at each other like they were proud of the fact that they knew.

"Did you like each other?" Sasuke asked. Sakura furrowed her brows.

"Like you of all people are interested in knowing the answer," Sakura said.

"I'm not interested, but I like to see the mutt suffer, and I have to say I've never seen his face redder than now," Sakura slyly said with a smirk. Sakura glanced at Kiba, and true enough, he looked like a tomato.

"Did you?" Ino asked.

"What?" Sakura barked.

"Like each other of course." Sakura looked down at the table again.

"Man, Kiba's heating up," Naruto remarked.

"This feels like an interrogation," Sakura conveyed.

"It is," Ino said with a bright smile.

"I think I might've…lefewopig…" Kiba said incoherently.

"Is that a new language?" Shino asked. Kiba coughed in embarrassment.

"I might've liked her…a little bit." When he saw Sakura's surprised face, he added, "A teeny weeny bit." Everyone was now staring expectantly at Sakura.

"Don't look at me like that!" She felt her own face reddening.

"So…?" Ino inquired. Sakura pressed her lips together to a thin line. Even Hinata had a hint of a twinkle in her eye. Sakura sighed in frustration.

"Define like!" Sakura said. Ino immediately began to applaud.

"So you liked him!" Sakura glanced worriedly at Kiba. He seemed freaked out.

"I…I liked him a little bit in the start!" Sakura said, not wanting to make it a big deal. "But when I realised it would never turn into anything more, I didn't think about him like that anymore." Ino looked disappointed, but she wasn't the type to give up.

"So, do you have someone special in your life, Kiba?" she asked.

"If you mean a girlfriend, then no."

Ino turned to Sakura. "And what about you Sakura?"

Sakura frowned. "What are you scheming? You know I don't have a boyfriend."

"Ah, so you're both single! Single and ready to mingle…" Shikamaru wanted to face palm. She was so obvious.

"Yeah, but not with each other," Sakura stated.

"I never said anything about that." Ino twirled her glass. "But now that you mention it—" The screeching sound of a chair interrupted her.

"I-I think I'm leaving," Hinata said. She grabbed her purse, left her share of money on the table, and bowed to everyone before she hurried out of the restaurant.

"You're such an idiot, Naruto!" Sasuke scolded.

"Did I say something?" Naruto asked, oblivious. Sasuke mimicked Hinata's actions, and shortly they were left with two less people around the table. It didn't take long before Shino got up too.

"I shouldn't spend too much time away from the bugs. We're conducting an experiment that depends on regular observation."

"Sorry, I have to leave too," Chouji said.

"What? Everyone is leaving?" Ino asked sadly.

"Maybe we can meet up another time," Chouji said, though a little half-hearted.

"Yeah…" Ino pouted when there were only four of them left. Her disappointed eyes were soon replaced with a mischievous glint.

"Have you seen the high school since we graduated?" Ino asked.

"No," Sakura said, and Kiba shook his head. Shikamaru gave Ino a sceptic look. What was she planning now?

"I heard they're bulldozing some of the buildings. Apparently there have been problems with moisture and mushrooms, and whatever." Shikamaru snorted. He hadn't heard anything about any problems with the buildings at Konoha High. She was definitely bluffing.

"Seriously?" Sakura asked, eyes slightly widened. "That's kind of sad, isn't it?"

Ino nodded. "Do you want to go and see?" She stared expectantly at Sakura and Kiba.

"Sure," Sakura replied.

"Actually, I'd rather just go home—" Kiba started.

"You can't!" Ino yelled out frantically. "Shikamaru will get bored if you're not there!" Shikamaru sighed. She was dead set on her matchmaking.

"Wouldn't it be fun seeing it once more?" Sakura asked.

Kiba shrugged. "Why not."

They paid for their meal, and wandered towards their old school. Shikamaru and Ino was walking slightly behind Sakura and Kiba.

"You're bringing them to a nostalgic place to evoke old feelings in them?" Shikamaru whispered to Ino.

"You're still genius boy, aren't you?" Ino replied with a smirk. "I wanted to become a psychologist, you know, before it was decided I would help out at the flower shop."

"Or you could become a matchmaker," Shikamaru murmured jokingly.

"I would be good at that, wouldn't I," Ino said dreamily. She looked at the two walking in front of them. They seemed to be going along well. Not surprisingly they were talking about the Bischon Frisé. Their high school came in sight and it was time to execute her plan.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed dramatically. Shikamaru glanced at her.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"I forgot I had to help preparing the shop for something important tomorrow!"

"You have to work in the evening?" Sakura asked.

"What can I say? I'm a busy woman."

Sakura's eyes squinted. "Ino, your shop is closed on Sundays."

"Umm…" Ino tried to quickly think of something to say, but Shikamaru ended up helping her out.

"Why can't you just tell the truth, Ino? My friend, whom you like, sent you a message!"

Sakura gasped. "What are you still doing here? Run to him!" Thankfully for Ino, Sakura were cheering her on, but she still had to think of something for Shikamaru.

"I-I'm a bit scared, though, so Shikamaru…can you come with me?"

"I can come with you," Sakura suggested.

"No! Uh, I mean…don't you want to see the school? Besides, Shikamaru is the one who knows him." Ino linked her arm with Shikamaru's and pulled him closer to her. Before he could protest, she hurried away. "Bye! See you both later!" _As a couple,_ she added in her mind.

Kiba and Sakura stared perplexed at their friends who were getting out of sight. They looked at each other.

"Umm…do you still want to see?" Sakura asked.

"Well, while we're here, we might as well."

When they entered the school territory—illegally—they kind of felt like teenagers again. They used to get in trouble all the time and there came a rush with doing something they weren't supposed to.

"Ah, there's our classroom!" Sakura said and pointed at a row of windows. They wandered around the school ground, reminiscing about old memories. They tried to figure out which of the buildings were going to get torn down, but neither of them could figure it out. Suddenly a sharp light blinded them and they heard a loud voice.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" They glanced at each other before they ran away from the elderly man that followed them.

"Why is there a janitor at school this late, and at a Saturday of all things?" Sakura yelled between breaths.

"Maybe they learned from bad experiences of nine of their old students," Kiba joked. They rounded a corner, and if they wanted to, they could've managed to jump over the fence and leave the school. However, instead of being sensible, they ran to the swimming pool behind another building, climbing over the fence to the swimming pool and hiding behind a pile of random boxes and equipment. They sat close to each other, crouching as low as they could. The light of the janitor's torch swiped across the swimming pool a couple of times before he gave up.

"Don't think you can get away with this!" he yelled. "Stupid teenagers." When they were sure he had left, they straightened up.

"Was that the old janitor?" Sakura asked.

"No, he would've known to look behind the pile." They glanced at each other and chuckled.

"Well, aren't we the definition of maturity," Sakura remarked sarcastically.

"Of course, we are the perfect example of adults," Kiba replied. Sakura leaned her head against the fence.

"Why did you act strange earlier today?" Sakura asked.

Kiba looked at her. "Are you still set on prying?"

"Okay, I won't…for now." The both went silent for a while. The late evening was so quiet they could slightly hear each other's breathing.

"We sometimes kissed here," Sakura suddenly said.

"Yeah…" Kiba wasn't sure how to reply to that. Coming back to their old school had already awoken certain feelings in him; he didn't want things to get more complicated than necessary.

"How come you're still single?" she asked.

"It has never worked out with anyone," he replied. "And you?"

"Busy," she answered with a wry smile.

"Ino probed a lot about high school, huh?" Kiba remarked.

"I can't believe she actually knew about us."

"Yeah…" Kiba looked down at his hand and how close it was to Sakura's.

"To think that we both liked each other… You seemed kind of freaked out when I said I liked you, though," Sakura said.

"Freaked out? Why would I be freaked out? I was just surprised…I was kind of thinking, well, that maybe we would've been a couple if we both knew that we liked each other."

Sakura quickly looked down at her lap. Her face was heating up. It wasn't warm outside, but still her body temperature went straight up. Sakura slowly turned her head to Kiba again. His eyes were slightly glossy. They were staring at her lips. Her own eyes trailed down to his lips. Kiba's hand tightened around hers.

"Now it would definitely be awkward," she said, her voice meek.

"We're still not close," he replied. His face inched closer to hers. "Wouldn't mind if we became closer, though." His breath warmed up her face like it had done ten years ago.

"Just kiss me, dammit," she whispered. He smiled. His lips met hers. It felt different kissing him now. Somehow she was more nervous now than before. Kiba regretted he hadn't contacted her earlier. Now he wouldn't wait ten years to contact her again.

Behind a bush two people were hiding, one of them grinning radiantly and the other holding his back in pain.

"What the hell are we spying on them for?" Shikamaru asked, evidently irritated.

"Shh! We had to make sure everything went okay, which it did!" Ino put her hand up to high five Shikamaru. "Yay for us!" Shikamaru gave her hand an uninterested glance. Ino put her hand down with a pout. She looked back at her best friend and canine tooth.

"One pairing down, one more to go. Just you wait, Sasuke. The princess will be yours." Ino tightened her fist in determination.

"What a scary woman…"

The two oblivious kissers couldn't help thinking that this had to have been the best reunion in history.

* * *

_**The end.**_


End file.
